Orange Juicer Dexter
by Tribblepoo
Summary: Newly revised and edited to make some necessary changes. Expect chapters three to five in the coming months. Those will finish the story.
1. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMERS- I do not own Rifts or any related concepts or characters (the Coalition States, Naruni Enterprises, Juicers, or any other related comments or ideas). These are the solely the property of Kevin Seimeida and Palladium Books and are used without permission for a bit of writing fun and not for profit. The characters Cenes Landford and Ichiko are property of my sister. I take it this covers everything and so on with the story.

AUTHOR's NOTES: This story is getting an overhaul due to a falling out I had with the creator of a key character. I cannot continue the story without the character there (or at least a similar one) but I believe I have come up with an even more compelling woman to take the original's place. Other than that and a few references, the story is unchanged. I eventually had this planned for six chapters, but I think I will cut it down to five or maybe even four.

Orange Juicer Part One

Suspicious Cargo

By Gabriel Bell

Dexter looked through the scope of his rifle at the point man of the Coalition recon team. They were good, at least the ranger leading them was. He and his friend Atticus, an orc woodsman from another world, had one hell of a time tracking them. It was now a week since they had started trailing these soldiers. Atticus was on the other side of the trail, ready to open up with his old C-12 assault rifle on Dexter's signal.

As the soldiers passed, Dexter looked over each one through the scope of his JA-11 assault rifle, trying to pick out the best target. As he passed by the third man in the four-man party, he did a double take and swore silently. The skeletal body armor, which was the typical issue of the new CS military machine, covered most of the man's body, except for the inside of his lower arms. Dexter focused on these and saw collars around his wrists, each with a cord that ran up his arm. That combined with the large vibro-sword on his back and the numerous vibro-knives he carried along with the heavy plasma rifle he carried brought Dexter to only one conclusion.

"Shit..." he hissed into his sub vocal microphone as he lowered his rifle. "Abort, Atticus...abort."

"Gerthag!" Atticus swore in orc. "What the hell, Dex?" His voice was low, but angry.

"One of them is a juicer." Dexter said, "You and me can't take three troopers and a juicer."

"Grr…alright…" Atticus grumbled as he sank into the foliage, his camouflage Huntsman armor blending seamlessly with the undergrowth as he continued to speak quietly. "What do we do now?"

Dexter watched as the Coalition troops passed them and thought. He was adept at setting up ambushes. He sat up from his prone position and shouldered his rifle. When his hand came back down to his side, it brushed a small pack on his belt. He looked down and saw the black bag and smiled.

"I just got an idea…we can make our way up to the rocks about a mile up the trail…" He said. "I can get there quick and scope things out. You catch up and think about what we can do with a bag full of Naruni plasma shells…" Dexter then quietly made his way up a tree and began to jump from tree to tree, passing the troopers and to the rock formation that they had seen earlier.

Dexter sighed as he began to carefully pick his way through the brush. In this terrain it would take an hour to cover that mile, plenty of time to think. He thought about the Naruni shells, large shotgun-like shells that held a chemical that, when fired, produced superheated plasma. They were normally fired from the oversized Naruni Arms line of weapons. Dexter had owned a rifle and pistol at one time, but his love for the guns was short lived. The juicer still favored his JA-11 and all of its charms, even though after selling the Naruni pistol and rifle, he kept the ammunition.

Atticus's first thought about the shells was to place them as ad-hoc mines by digging a small hole in the ground, putting a metal pin in the bottom, the shell on top of that, then some sticks and leaves so someone will step on it, activate the charge, and suffer from an incinerated foot and leg. He dismissed that though as it would take too much time. His mind began to think of other things when Dexter calling him over the radio interrupted his train of thought.

"Yo, Atti…never mind about the rocks…" The juicer radioed. "The place is being guarded by skelebots…" Atticus groaned inwardly as he sensed the juicer get a wide smirk. "…I'm gonna pop a few of them…there's only six of the 'bots."

"Dexter..." Atticus growled warningly, even though he knew the juicer was unlikely to listen to him.

The juicer did not respond and Atticus sighed as he heard a sharp crack over the radio, which was probably the heat of the juicer's laser superheating the air it traveled through.

"Boo-ya…" Dexter said quietly as the head of one of the Skelebots got a hole drilled neatly through its head from his laser. He stayed crouched and prepared to move to fire again once the two human soldiers supervising the five remaining 'bots became distracted. He had not been able to see the top half of one of the soldiers before, but when the man came into view, he smirked. The soldier was eating and had his helmet off. Too bad for him. A quick shot from his laser reduced the man's cranium to vapor and red mist. Dexter was standing and had his weapon switched over to fire ion bolts, which would allow automatic fire, and was pelting the other soldier with a burst of fire before the headless corpse of the first hit the ground. Just as he saw steam and smoke jet forth from a hole an ion bolt had made, signaling his target was dead, the skelebots now had him targeted and were firing. A loud clanging noise followed by the rocks to his left exploding from an impact got him to move quickly to his right.

"Shit, one of 'ems got a Dead-man…" He swore as he leaped from the top of one rock to the side of another on the large formation. The weapon he was referring to was a light rail gun typically issued to Skelebots. The weapon rang out again, along with four laser pulse rifles. He moved himself around to the back of the formation and took a real quick breather to study the situation. He then smirked as he switched his rifle over to laser firing again and shouldered it as he began to climb to the top of the rock. He then looked down at the skelebots, which were fanning out to search for him. They were looking up and a couple was now climbing on the rocks. He smirked as he saw one going toward a slender crevice in the rock. He took his rifle in his hands again and took aim at one on the ground. He turned his scope until he got the one with the rail gun in his sights. He fired a shot into its chest; putting a hole in the armor and making it turn toward him. He fired again and the 'bot jerked, collapsing to the ground.

Dexter then shouldered his gun again and climbed down to the crevice on the rocks that one of the skelebots had passed. He snuck into the crevice and lay down with his feet toward the 'bot. He then drew a pair of heavy ion pistols and held them ready as he whistled. The Skelebot then turned and began to come toward him again. Just when the machine was standing over him, he began firing into the body of the 'bot. In less than three seconds, the skelebot was on the ground, it's chest and internal workings vaporized and melted. He then jumped up and turned so he had his guns aimed at the other 'bot on the rocks. It met the same fate as the previous one at Dexter's feet.

The remaining two had now spotted him and began firing. Their shots passed by Dexter harmlessly as he easily ducked and rolled. The same chemicals that enhanced his strength and endurance also did the same for his speed and agility. To him, the robots seemed to move in slow motion, although their lasers were just as quick. Even Juicer augmentation couldn't slow down the speed of light noticeably. However, he could judge where they were aiming effectively and had plenty of time to move before they fired.

Dexter leaped off the rocks, dropping his pistols and grabbing a pair of grenades. He landed with his feet in the chest of one, tumbling it to the ground before pulling the pins of his grenades and tossing them at the second. A moment later, that skelebot was consumed in a pair of bluish-green explosions of energy. After seeing the plasma grenades do their work, he turned to the last one as it got up, un-shouldered his rifle, aimed it at the 'bot's chest, and fired a burst of ion bolts into its chest. The time between the first shot he fired and the final burst from his gun was just a hair over one minute.

Captain Shane Anderson was tired of walking. He had been leading a recon unit personally and was waiting for the signal that the skelebots under his command had secured the campsite so that him and the rest of the platoon to go set up camp. When the transmission didn't come, he ordered the Ranger to take them back to the site so he could see what was going on. When they were a half hour away, he got a radio signal that had whines and chirps, like a modem. It was the skelebots communicating with each other over open frequencies. That meant combat. He then ordered his unit to race foreword to the camp post and ordered his juicer ahead for recon while they waited a hundred meters away. After ten minutes of not hearing from the juicer, who should have been able to get there, look around, and be back in less than that, much less radio back, the Captain flicked on his radio to try and raise the juicer.

"O'Malley…are you there?" He hissed into the radio, not knowing why he was being quiet. "You there? What's going on?"

Silence.

"Dammit Corporal…what in the hell-" He was cut off by a soft 'clink' that signified a gun barrel being put to his head. He turns slowly to see the greenish toned skin of the porcine-faced Atticus. "Shit…"

"Right…now, all of yous take off yer helmets, unbutton all yer belts and crap and drop yer weapons." He said plainly as he looked around at the hesitating troops. "Do it or yer leader gets a face full of laser." The three soldiers then quickly complied.

By the time Dexter came back to Atticus, he had discovered a hover jeep and had packed all the weapons he salvaged onto it and drove to his position to see the three soldiers all tied to different trees. Atticus groaned as he saw his best friend leap from the driver's seat, over the hood, and landed on his feet, causing his camouflaged Juicer armor to shift and his orange Mohawk to wiggle when he landed. He tossed a new model CS rifle to Atticus and grinned.

"We're rich…" He said, smiling brightly. "There was a stock of rifles and such in the jeep here, plus what the 'bots were using. I have been waiting to get me a pair of these…"

He pulls out a pair of bulky pistols and holds them up for Atticus's inspection. CP-30s, the new Coalition laser pulse pistol. Dexter had seen one in action once and has been drooling over the thought of getting one for the last six months. Atticus just nodded as he saw the pistols, knowing that now instead of whining about not having them, it would be bragging about using them.

"So, what should we do with them?" He asked, pointing a clawed thumb over to the soldiers.

"Oh, just set one of their helmets to send a repeating S.O.S. broadcast and then let's get outta here." Dexter replied. Atticus just nodded as he set to work on one of the helmets.

"You know, the Major is just gonna either take most of the money for the company and gives us a small cut…" The orc said as he rigged the radio for a repeat loop. "…Or keep the weapons for equipment for the rest of us, but let us have our pick of it."

"Man, you really got a way of crushing a guy's dreams, are all orcs as somber as you?" Dexter said as he jumped onto the hood of the car and relaxed by leaning back against the windshield with his hands behind his head. "Anyway, who says we have to tell old Sour-Puss anyway?"

"You damn well know what he would do if he found out…" Atticus said as he twisted his needle nose pliers inside the helmet and saw a blinking light. He then tossed the helmet to the base of a tree. "Done, let's go…" He then went to the jeep to get in. Dexter hopped up and jumped back into the driver's seat. When his partner was secure, he drove off at less than safe speeds.

Two days later, the pair arrived at Domogo's Trade Yard. It was basically a town that had sprung up from a trading post, general store, and inn. Now there was a number of shops and lots, most of which traded illegal goods, anywhere from pre-rifts artifacts to books to weapons and armor and the three lots in the town had a selection of robot vehicles.

Dexter drove slowly through the throng of people, who broke like a wave to avoid being run over by the hover jeep. He was looking around for a small shop that was part of an unofficial chain of shops that dealt almost exclusively in CS weapons and equipment. The shops moved constantly to avoid shakedowns by Coalition agents. He finally saw the sign, which was nothing more than a skull and crossbones sloppily painted on a piece of wood and hung over a door.

This time however, it was hung over the gate to one of the lots and Dexter smiled. Atticus also knew what it meant. One of their teammates, Gordon Hightower, a former Coalition States SAMAS pilot, would find a lot he could use here. In this town, yards were reserved for merchants who sold vehicles and power armor. They drove up and a balding man of middle age and protruding gut hopped up and made his way to them. The severe waddle of his gait showed the lasting effects of a leg injury suffered years ago.

"Good afternoon friends!" he announced in a gravely, but cheerful voice. "What can I do for you today?"

Dexter jumped out of the vehicle and went around to the back and lowered the small tailgate on the jeep and motioned for the man to come around. He had his hand on a canvas but held it down.

"Alright…I have an offer for you…what I got under here is worth a lot…but I want a quarter-mil for it…" He said as he flipped up the canvas to reveal a few pistols and rifles, but a wealth of explosives, E-clips, and supplies. The man's eyes widened a bit. He would happily pay the money for this, but he wanted to barter with the Juicer, to lower the cost.

"A good offer, but it is mostly clips and a few grenades…" The man said, "…There's hardly any weapons at all…100K is my offer."

"Eh…how about not?" Dexter said. "We have costs to cover and whatnot…although I was adding a little padding before…how about 200K?" The merchant thought it over and looked up at him.

"Well, I only got so much cash on hand right now…How about one fifty…" He said "…and free repair of equipment and replenishment of supplies, as long as it is just E-clips and food stocks."

"Deal." Dexter said as he held out his hand to shake. The man had apparently had some bad memory of shaking hands with a juicer and refrained from it.

"Deal…now, let's see to getting this stuff unloaded, shall we?" He said. Dexter nodded and whistled to Atticus to come help with the supplies. When they were done and paid off, they got their weapons recharged and armor repaired. Dexter also got himself a couple of cans of spray paint from the man for his armor. The captain had said something about going up to northern Minnesota to counter CS special forces raids there and it was snowing this time of year and green and brown doesn't quite cut it when trying to be camouflaged in snow.

Once they had concluded all of their business, they drove off with the jeep and Dexter began to look for a good bar. Atticus looked rather grumpy. The orc did not like the idea of selling the equipment without the Major's permission.

"We should not have done that." He grumbled.

"Why not?" Dexter asked. "We got a good deal off the stuff and besides. I got the guns I wanted and you got that slick variable frequency rifle you have been wanting. I am happy with just the guns and I don't think ol' Sour-Puss Alexander will mind if we hand over the cash."

"I suppose you're right…" Atticus consented. "…But shouldn't we be getting back to the camp instead of going to a bar?"

"Oh hell no…" Dexter replied. "We are expected to be gone another two days. Hell, Even I wasn't expecting to take care of that bunch as quickly as we did. I thought it would take a lot longer to track them down. Anyway, I want to get some nice strong whiskey in me…and you could use a drink to loosen up too."

They pulled up into the dirt parking lot of a large tavern, called The Green Grouch by locals, and Dexter shut off the engine. He locked down the storage compartments and control console before stepping out and walking to the front door.

Inside the large common room was no less than four- dozen people, probably more, engaged in all sorts of vices. Most were human; the natives to this world, but there were D-Bees, the common slang in North America for an alien humanoid, of various sorts there as well. Dexter had only two things on his mind when he walked in, and the first would be accomplished by going to the bar. He sauntered over and clapped a hand down on the long wooden counter. The bartender, a short man with full red beard and broad build came over to him. Even with the elevated platform behind the bar, the dwarf still only stood a head and shoulders above the top of it.

"What can I gettcha?" He said hurriedly. Dexter leaned over to him and smiled.

"A bottle of your strongest whiskey…" He answered before tapping the wrist collar of his bio-comp drug harness, which was what constantly put the augmenting chemicals into his body. "…I need it…"

The dwarf nodded and reached under the bar for a bottle and a shot glass. The bottle was full and he set them both down before looking at Dexter.

"Twenty credits." The barkeep said. The juicer compliantly pulled out a handful of coins stamped with the likeness of King Creed, ruler of the magic nation of Tolkeen, on them. He pulled three from his hand and dropped them on the counter.

"Will these do?" He asked. The dwarf nodded and took the coins.

Dexter moved away from the bar to give Atticus a place to make his order. He looked around, scanning the room for the subject of his second objective. There were plenty of women here, mostly prostitutes. The second floor of the place doubled as a brothel it seemed. Dexter did see a few women who weren't adventurers or ladies of the night and looked over each one carefully before making his decision on which one to approach.

The one that caught his eye was a tall woman, only an inch or so shorter than his six and a quarter foot frame, with brunet hair and decent curves. He walked up o her with his bottle in hand, the cup placed over the cap. She was currently sitting by herself at a table in the corner. She didn't wear any armor or weapons that he could notice, but she did have a long travel robe draped about her body.

Dexter smiled widely, twisting his normally handsome face into an ear-to-ear goofy grin. He set down the bottle and poured himself a glass of whiskey and downed it, wincing just a little at the harsh burn as it slid down his throat.

"You don't look like a local…" He said in a charming manner. "You here with someone?"

She simply looked at him and suppressed rolling her eyes. She set an elbow down on the table and laid her chin in her palm. She simply looked at him with a look of disinterest.

"So what if I am, eh?" She had a distinct accent to her voice, probably Canadian. "You don't look like you're from 'round here either, eh?"

"I've been here a couple of times." He said, still smiling "I like it here. The market helps me relax…especially when I meet a lovely lady such as yourself." He looked back over his shoulder as Atticus approached. He nodded at him then turned back to the woman, pouring another glass.

"Hey…I forgot my manners…" He said extending a hand. "…Name's Dexter. Dexter McCarthy. This guy is my bro, Atticus." He looked back over his shoulder, where the orc was standing behind him and smirked. "He may be an orc, but I wouldn't trust my back to anyone else out there other than this guy…" He patted the chest of Atticus's armor a couple of times before turning back to her. "What's yer name?"

"Why do you care, eh?" She asked plainly, bringing her arm off the table and sitting up, leaning back in the chair a bit.

"Sorry, just being friendly…that's all." Dexter thought for a moment. This woman was a tough nut to crack, but he had been able to seduce even tougher before, although she didn't look too receptive to his conversation, as if her mind was on something else. He then leaned forward as he downed the glass he had poured and tried a different tactic.

"Hey…want some whiskey?" he asked brightly. "Or maybe another kind of drink? I'm buying, so get whatever you want." She sighed and looked at him.

"Look pal…I'll give it to you strait, eh." She said. "I don't think you are getting the hint. I am not interested in beefed-up, juiced-out supermen, got it?" Dexter blinked and briefly considered an acidy retort, but simply smiled and spoke politely, a hint of mirth showed in his voice.

"Heh, I may be a beefed-up, juiced-out superman…" He then looked up at Atticus's scowling face, the expression he usually wore, then looked back at her and leaned over the table. "But I am a good-looking beefed-up, juiced-out superman…"

She sighed and hung her head. The woman then looked back up at him and stared him strait in the eye. She had no other choice but to tell him why she was there.

"Fine, I give up…" She said. "If it'll get you off my back, I will tell you why I am here, eh." She sighed and looked at both Dexter and Atticus again. "I am looking for some merc scouts, guys who know their way in the woods. I mean really know, eh? There is a package I need to have taken to Rilloran and it needs to get there without anyone getting to it." She figured she could trust that they weren't spies of the Coalition because of the orc that was standing in front of her. That comforted her greatly. She looked them both over and waited for a response.

"Well, it may not be getting laid…" Dexter said. "…But it is the next best thing. I think you have just found your boys. Atticus here is the best wilderness scout I have ever laid eyes on…the fact that he's been doing it for ten years should say something. Plus, he has been teaching me what he knows."

She studied them for a moment. The orc did look like he was more comfortable in the wilderness, but the juicer, with his bright orange Mohawk, as well as goatee and eyebrows of the same color, did not look like he belonged in the woods for any other reason than as a soldier. Still, she had not found anyone who wanted to haul what she needed to have hauled.

"Do you two have a vehicle?" She asked.

"A brand-spanking new Coalition hover jeep." Dexter replied.

"That may be a little too conspicuous." The woman said. "I want low profile and a D-Bee riding in a CS hover jeep is not exactly low profile, eh. You will need to trade it in for something more common."

"Right…" Dexter grudgingly agreed, not liking the idea of getting rid of his 'hard won' hover jeep. "Alright…the other issue, payment. Our standard fee for an escort is a grand a day for inanimate cargo, which is anything non-living or non magical in nature. Two grand otherwise."

"Well…I really don't want to say…" She said slowly. "Are you sure it is necessary to tell you the nature of the cargo?"

"It is if ya want a low price." Dexter said. "The Major runs an honest outfit, but he also likes to know the risks involved. If you don't want to tell us, we may not be able to run the escort. Even if Atticus and I agree to this, we will have to run it by our commander first and he may not agree."

"Alright…go ask him. I really do want to keep this a secret as long as possible." She said.

Dexter and Atticus looked at each other and nodded. Dexter stood fluidly, the shots he downed not showing a bit in his movements. He handed his bottle and glass to Atticus and turned to the woman.

"Oh, one more thing. I need to know your name." He said. "The Major has a thing for names."

"My name is Zoë." She said, smiling for the first time in the meeting. "Zoë Alexander."

Dexter nodded and slipped out of the bar, digging in his battle harness for a slip of paper that held the frequency that his commander could be reached at. Once outside, he hopped into the hover jeep and began fiddling with the radio, trying to find the right scrambler codes for secured communication.

Major Ryan Alexander stood on the small hilltop that was the survey point for the strike he was coordinating on a Coalition supply convoy. He looked through the view port of his power armor, which was an illegal Naruni design made to look like a knight in armor, hence the name for the model, Mecha-Knight. He sighed as he saw the defenders begin to even out their disadvantage. He would have liked more forces there to assist, but he had his second in command, Captain Naomi Nakatomi, leading a scout squad to let him know when reinforcements were on their way. Plus he had two pairs of scouts in the field a day or so north of them.

"Call in artillery support." He said calmly to his aide. Immediately, the order was radioed and moments later, plasma missiles were streaking from a concealed position ten miles away to strike down the Spider-Skull Walker that was plaguing his light power armors.

"Good, have the tanks move in and finish the convoy, then salvage what you can." He said as he calmly walked down the hill to the command post.

As he got to the command post, which had a dozen soldiers along with a trio of commanders, who oversaw the operations and communications of the operations of Ryan's Ryders, the mercenary company the Major commanded. He had started the unit from scratch almost ten years before with only himself and Captain Nakatomi serving in any capacity they could find jobs for. Now they had nearly a full division under their command, using tanks, helicopters, some jets and infantry. However, the bulk of his forces was comprised of power armor of all types, mostly light Triax models, like the Terrain Hopper and Predator, but there were also more exotic models, like old CS SAMAS armors and a handful of Flying Titans and a couple of Naruni suits, like the one he wore. Each division of his forces, infantry, artillery, tanks and vehicle, mechanized and aircraft each had their own communications link and commander that was subordinate to him. The system worked well and his subordinate commanders did their jobs well.

As far as talent in strategy and tactics and his knowledge of how military units are run, Major Alexander would have been a general in any other army than his own private army. However, he struck out on his own when he was 20, and only a young lieutenant in his father's mercenary company. He left after devoting almost all of his pay to paying off the supplies and gear he had. The day he left, he made an agreement with his father. That agreement was to never promote himself, but to come to his father to receive a promotion. Even after his father's death five years ago, he has kept to that bargain and is stuck with the rank of Major for the rest of his career.

When he got to the command center, a sergeant who shove a radio microphone at him immediately greeted him.

"Sir…there is a call from the Domogo Trade Yard…" She said. "It's-"

"Dexter McCarthy…" Alexander grumbled as he hit a small latch on the side of his helmet and the face visor slid up to reveal his face. He then grabbed the handset communicator and spoke authoritatively.

"What is it, Sergeant?" He asked. The voice on the other end sounded a little too cheerful, as always.

"Yo, Major, I got a sweet offer on a job." Dexter answered. "There's this gal who wants an unspecified cargo escorted to a town that's a week north of here. I told her I'd like to talk it over with you before I made any descisions on it."

"What is the offering price and can you determine the general nature of the cargo?" The Major asked.

"No Sir, she's real tight lipped about it, but she seems to accept our prices." The juicer answered before continuing. "So what's the verdict judge?"

"Very well, but since you cannot determine the nature of the cargo, split the difference in our rates, but tell her that we will need hazard pay for three." Alexander said. "Before you go, I want you to link up with Ichiko and have her go along. Her abilities may be useful here. One more thing, I want you to get some intelligence on that town you're going to, alright?"

"Yes Sir…I'm all over it…" Dexter said. "Oh yeah, me and Atti slagged some Dead Boys yesterday and got good loot off of them. We got a good chunk of change, one-fifty triples." Dexter was using the merc company's code for the amount of cash they had gotten. The 'triples' referred to the number of zeros that the Major should place behind the number he mentioned.

"Right…keep it as your hazard pay for this mission and part of your regular pay for the last three months you've been in the field. Split it three ways between you, Atticus and Ichiko." The Major ordered. "I expect to hear from you in a week."

"Yes Sir…" Dexter said. "McCarthy out."

"Right…" The Major said as he handed the handset back to the Sergeant. A sudden cry came from one of the commanders.

"What is it lieutenant?" He asked as he walked over to the tank commander.

"Sir, our tanks and artillery are being over run in the rear positions!" The man said.

"Right…" The Major said as he lowered the visor back down and heard the environmental seal click into place as he ran out to a clear patch of ground.

As the wings on the back of his power armor extended, he crouched down to use the powerful servos in the legs to propel him off the ground as the rocket engines roared to life. He cursed himself for not expecting the Coalition's backup to arrive and start taking out their artillery support. It just wasn't the way the CS did things. They usually arrived right at the source of the call for help. It was a weakness he had exploited before.

Then again, it may be just a passing CS patrol looking for unregistered targets or maybe not even CS at all. As he approached, he saw four shapes swooping and diving, firing rail guns and mini-missiles at the three missile trucks on the ground. The defenses he had set up for them could not hold off the power armors and were probably already gone. As he readied the powerful particle beam rifle that was attached to his right leg, he could see that the four units were indeed CS SAMAS power armors, and they did not have the blocky outlines of the old 'Death's Head' suits for which the Coalition military was famous for using. These suits had the rounded, sleek shapes of the newer models. As he fired the beam rifle at one of the smaller suits, he took note that one of them had an incredible bulk to it. It was a Super Sam. He had never faced one down, but he had heard stories.

"Alexander to base. I am going to need back up pronto at the artillery post." He said as he fired a bluish beam at one of the smaller suits, a 'Smiling Jack'. It had turned as the beam hit it. The blast didn't kill, but knocked its engine out of commission, sending the thing spiraling down to the ground. He would have to come back for that pilot. Might be a valuable prisoner.

A launch alarm sounded and he turned to see the other two Jacks heading strait for him, one firing its rail gun and the other opening up with a load of mini missiles. Acting on instinct, he kicked his thrusters to send him up above the spray of iron shards that the rail gun was putting out at he stowed his rifle and reached to his left hip for what looked like the bladeless hilt for a sword. The mini-missiles curved their path to meet him and he turned downward to head at them strait on, firing the small laser mounted on his shoulder into the oncoming semi-guided rockets. A couple of the rockets were hit and exploded, the blast causing the rest to detonate. He flew through the explosion and in the flick of his wrist; a greenish-blue blade of concentrated plasma energy sprang from the empty hilt of the weapon he was holding. The weapon was far beyond any technology that could be produced on Earth and was a standard feature of the Mecha-Knight power armor.

Alexander raced forward, directly at the two power armors in front of him. He closed the distance quickly and right when he got into striking range, he lashed out at the head of one armor, melting the helmet and vaporizing the head inside. Before the other pilot could spin around and lock his rail gun on him, which would devastate even the heavy armor of his Mecha-Knight at such close range, Alexander turned around backwards and in one smooth motion cut the barrel of the rail gun in two before bringing the blade back around and sticking it into the torso of the armor. The resilient metal held for a couple of seconds but before the pilot knew what was happening, his torso became nothing but steam and ash, which spewed from the glowing hole in his power armor as he tumbled to the ground.

Explosions rocked around his power armor. They were small and doing minimal damage. Still, he flew out of the sudden maelstrom of fire and shrapnel to see whom the new attacker was. It was the Super Sam, bearing down on him with arms extended, firing the rapid-fire grenade launchers mounted on the forearms. The Sam stopped firing and pushed its engines to full speed, firing its shoulder cannons as it came. Alexander swung his plasma blade wildly; hoping that it would absorb some of the massive energy directed his way as he sped to his left. The firing was wild however and none of it came close to hitting him. The massive hulk of a power armor did get close however and began wildly swinging the wicked looking spikes on his forearm, which were laced with an energy field that vibrated them at such a high frequency that they became almost monomolecular edged, at the Major, who was able to parry or avoid every swing.

Alexander immediately recognized the type of fighting. It was an angry, intense kind of fighting, born out of fear, anger, or simply relying on brute force. Someone with the proper finesse could defeat this kind of opponent fairly easily. Alexander used this to his advantage and thanked the stars that this pilot wasn't an experienced one. From what he had seen of the suit's power, if it were an experienced pilot, he would not win this match.

The Major ducked to the side of a slash and brought his blade down on the elbow of the outstretched arm. His free hand gripped the hand of his opponent as he held the blade to the elbow, which took a second to burn through. Once the forearm came free, he dropped it and the pilot reeled back. Alexander thought he could almost hear the pilot screaming in pain above the roars of the engines of the two suits. He then noticed a familiar instinct take over in the pilot. Run.

The Major felt sorry for the obviously young pilot and wanted to let him or her go, but could not risk the soldier giving away the position of his group. As the pilot ran, he put his sword away and drew out his rifle again and blasted shots at the Super Sam's back, taking out the engines. This one would be in no condition to fight; hopefully the other one who would have survived wouldn't want to fight either.

"Sir, I am assuming you shot down a Jack and left the pilot alive? Over." One of the radio operators from the two surviving missile trucks radioed.

"Yes, what's their status? Over." He asked. The young man answered back.

"Surrendered. And I am seeing another unit falling. Should we check them out too? Over." The communications operator replied.

"Yes, I am coming down. The one you see falling is critically injured. See to it they get medical attention and call in a medical truck for all injured."

"Yessir, Artillery out." The young man replied.

"Alexander out." He said as he began descending to the ground.

"Alrighty then." Dexter said as he sat down at the table again with Atticus and Zoë. "You got lucky. I honestly didn't think he would go for it. He asked for 1500 a day, plus hazard pay for three, which amounts to three grand a week. He wants another of our group to meet up with us. She'll be here by the morning."

"Agreed." Zoë said simply as she got up. "I expect that a certain amount of the pay is to be up front?"

"Yup, half." Dexter answered.

"You will have it by the time we depart, eh." She said, "I need to go check on the cargo."

She left and Dexter took his bottle and shot glass from Atticus. The orc raised an eyebrow as he looked at Dexter. The juicer was grinning to himself as he poured the whiskey.

"What did the Major say?" He asked. "You only get that look on your face when two things come your way, money and women, and the Major wouldn't promise women to anyone."

"He said 'You, Atticus and Ichiko keep that 150 triples as back pay and the balance will be your pay for your extended scouting and for expenses." Dexter replied. He knew full well that the Major knew a good chunk of the money would go toward expenses for various missions. At the sound of their would-be companion's name, Atticus groaned.

"Not her…I have to put up with one super powered hyperactive freak, why two?" He said with a growl to his voice. Dexter looked at him and chuckled. He knew the statement meant no offense to him, but was simply referring to how Dexter got on the orc's nerves quite often. The two were actually best friends.

"Yeah…I don't like it much either, but it could be worse." The juicer said smiling. "We could be working with Lieutenant Fitzharold."

"Do not remind me…" Atticus said. The orc had unpleasant memories of the explosives expert and chicken corpses detonating. The prank had been used to distract the enemy, but it also proved to severely befuddle the orc as well. He could recall the look and subsequent hysterical laughter of Dexter when he returned to base, covered in chicken parts.

"Yup, at least it isn't him." Dexter replied. "I don't like him much either."

He took down another shot of whiskey and waved down an attractive waitress to order a rather large portion of food.

The raven-haired young woman got whistles and amorous jeers from the mercenaries as she walked into Domogo's Trade Yard. These jeers were caused by her mode of dress, which consisted of combat boots, a long loincloth which was looped between her legs and through a chain she wore around her waist as a belt, a couple of hips packs, and a tight-fitting fur shirt that looked more like a sports bra for a cave woman. Her asian face was exceedingly beautiful and her tanned skin showed of well-muscled limbs, although she was not muscle bound, simply well toned.

She flashed her green eyes around her and soon found herself with a following of mercs who were making obscene gestures and comments to her. She stopped dead and drew a long handled maul from her back and looked at all of them. The weapon had a large sledgehammer head, which weighed close to twenty pounds and a six-foot long handle that was two inches in diameter and wrapped in cloth. Both handle and head were made of a single piece of bluish-gray metal and etched with carved symbols and letters of an unknown language. She held the hammer near the middle of the handle and patted her left palm with the head.

"Alright, I will give you guys what you want if…" She looked around at all of them before continuing. "…And only if any of you guys can take me. I accept challenges of all of you at once or one at a time." Before she let them have time to make a decision, she turned the hammer upside down and held onto it with both hands and slammed it into the ground with restrained strength. The hard packed dirt at her feet crumbled into dust, which billowed up around her as the head was driven six or so inches into the ground. The ground noticeably shook and the dozen or so mercs backed up, looking at each other and her. She chuckled as she drew the hammer back up and held it in a ready position, still standing in the three-foot wide dust bowl she had created.

"So, any takers?" She said with a wicked smile. After a moment of hesitation, the mercs backed off and headed back to whatever business they had before choosing to harass her. She smirked and used the hammer, which exceeded her height by half a foot, as a walking stick as she turned to go toward the large inn and tavern. She then heard a clapping coming from her left and turned.

"Very good Sergeant." Dexter said as he hopped off the hood of his newly acquired Iron Heart Armaments hover jeep. "But you'd best not head to the bar. We ain't there anymore."

"I can see that Dexter." She said with an annoyed tone, walking up to him. "And why didn't you help out back there?"

"I knew you could handle it." He replied. "If you would have had any takers on your offer, I would have stepped in then, but even I wouldn't have done much good with you and yer hammer there."

"You're right, you wouldn't." She said with a smile. "So where is Atticus and this 'package' you spoke of?"

"Well, Atticus is with our contact." He answered. "She apparently hid it in the woods and wanted both of us to come along, but I told her I had to wait for you. She relented and Atticus agreed to go with her." He then hopped up into the hover jeep and pulled a small case out of the back seat and handed it to her. When she opened the cigarette-sized case, she found five slips inside, each about the thickness and length of a credit card but about half the width.

"Each has a balance of ten grand on them." He said as he started the engine. The young woman hopped in, looking in disbelief at the cards, which held electronic balances of universal credits on them. "The Major gave us this for back pay."

"Remind me to thank him when we report back to him." She said. Dexter began driving off into the wilderness, where his friend and their contact had gone.

"No need Ichiko." He said. "He knows we appreciate it. Although I don't know why he would give us such a big payday, even if it is three months of back pay, bonus pay and expense money."

Less than ten minutes later, they had arrived at the small clearing that Zoë and Atticus had arrived at earlier that morning. Dexter stopped the jeep and stood up, pointing at the cargo that Atticus was keeping clear away from.

"That's a cryogenic chamber!" He said to Zoë accusingly. "There is something alive in there and you didn't tell us."

"I'm sorry…I will pay you your fee for transport of living people." Zoë said. "I could not say what was in here because there are spies of the CS all over that town. No doubt some of them are tracking our progress right now. We must make haste to Rilloran. She will be safe there. Help me get this into the jeep."

"Atticus, Ichiko, get that into the bed and tie it down." Dexter said as he sat back down and motioned for Zoë to come sit in the front seat. Once she had gotten in, he spoke."

"Two matters of business…first the pay." Dexter said. "Seven grand and our hazard pay up front." Zoë sighed and handed over bar of orange-colored metal with an odd sigil on it.

"What the hell is this?" He asked, weighing the heavy bar in his hand.

"Orichalcum." She replied. "That chunk there is worth ten thousand, maybe twenty to the right buyer. It's a rare alloy and is used in magic. You will get another bar like it in Rilloran."

"Right…" The juicer said, tossing the bar into the back seat where he knew Atticus would take care of it. "Now, why the hell are you so scared of the CS? What in creation have you got in there?"

"I wish I could say, but I really can't." Zoë said. Dexter huffed and looked forward.

"Fine." He then turned to the back to see how far along the others were. "How much longer?"

"A couple of minutes." Ichiko said as she threw a tarp over the portable cryo-chamber, which weighed close to a ton. Her inhuman strength allowed her to easily lift the device and its contents into the bed of the truck. A couple of minutes later, everything was tied down and everyone was in the hover jeep, ready to go. Dexter was not in a good mood and Atticus was quickly reaching his state, having to sit next to Ichiko, who was already showing signs of pestering him.

The juicer sped off quickly, leaving dust behind them as he dodged through trees to reach the nearest road that went anywhere near Rilloran.

"Sir, one of our agents in Domogo has a message." The young officer said as he stepped into the tent and saluted. The middle-aged man inside returned the salute and relaxed. He forgave the breach of protocol, speaking before saluting, because he knew anything from Domogo would be important. He turned his twin cybernetic eyes up to the young corporal and spoke. His voice was fairly deep and held a calm, almost chilling quality to it.

"What is the news Davis?" He asked. The soldier shifted a little in his skeletal body armor and stood at attention.

"Sir, it is about the package our agents have been tracking. The one stolen from Lone Star." He said. "It has been sighted with one of the thieves and a trio of mercenaries. They are on a hover jeep heading north."

"North huh?" I believe we have a squad there that can intercept them." The older man said. "Tell our recon squad to expect them and to lay an ambush. We need to get that package back. Dismissed."

"Yes Colonel." The corporal saluted and headed out of the tent. He sat back and lit a thin cigar and opened a folder. Inside was a picture of a young woman of about eighteen or ninteen with short black hair and gently rounded features making her look much younger than she was. Her eyes even seemed to have a glow to them. She was smiling, as if the picture taken was one taken in pleasant surprise. For a long moment the Colonel studied it before speaking softly to himself.

"Cenes Lanford…" He said "I will find you, and then you will teach the scientists at Lone Star all about what happened before the cataclysm…as well as about magic and immortality…"

He chuckled as he closed the folder and set it down in the folding table he used as a field desk then stood up to go issue ready orders for pursuit of the cryogenic chamber.

The next day, Atticus was driving, taking directions from Zoë, who was in the passenger seat next to him. Dexter was standing up in the back seat, arms spread out to both sides, and head thrown back. He was yelling out, trying to re-enact a pre-cataclysm movie he had dragged Atticus to see a couple of months earlier.

"I'm king of the world!" He cried out loudly. Despite the juicer being his best friend, Atticus briefly considered pulling the hover jeep up just enough to knock Dexter off with a branch of a tree. He refrained from this action however, noting how Dexter would just get him back for it by whining and making a big fuss about it. The action also proved to be unnecessary, as Ichiko reached up to grab a hold of the back of the collar of Dexter's armor and pulled him easily back down into his seat. While the strength, reflexes and fortitude granted to Dexter through drugs were superhuman, his strength and toughness were no match for Ichiko, who could pound a robot or power armor into submission with just her bare fists and take several shots from energy weapons that would vaporize a human, even a juicer. The trade-off from her supernatural strength and fortitude was that she was not nearly as quick as Dexter, although she did have good reflexes, and that her knowledge was limited to speaking a couple of languages and up-front combat tactics, not the extensive intelligence and wilderness training of Dexter and Atticus.

Dexter gave her a glare as he was pulled down and scowled as he mockingly shook a finger at her. She simply smiled and patted her hammer. He shook his head and Dexter snapped his head forward, his superhuman senses alerting him to a slight shift in the course of the hover jeep just prior to Atticus making a sharp right hand turn. Dexter knew what this meant. He had long since learned to trust the orc's psychic instincts of danger. By the time the explosion from the rocket had gone off, right where they would have been, Dexter had his rifle up and was firing on full automatic into the forest, trying to keep their heads down until everyone gathered their wits.

"Christ!" The lieutenant said as he ducked one of the many ion bolts slung in his direction by the man with the orange Mohawk that was firing wildly with his rifle. "Fucking juicer…Crassus, Shannon, get your asses out there and take out the juicer. Lucia and Draven, cover him with the rockets, Syous, get your hounds ready for that supernatural presence they sensed then go get 'em."

With a number of nods, the soldiers carried out their orders. The two cyborgs, Crassus and Shannon, rushed forward, their mechanical legs carrying them far faster than any mortal flesh and blood legs could. Crassus fired his rail gun, punching holes in the hover jeep's side as he ran. Shannon, who had a lighter frame, carried the rear, using her larger companion for cover. Lucia loaded another rocket into the CR-01 rocket launcher on Draven's shoulder and the corporal fired, the plasma head impacting into the front of the jeep, knocking it dead and throwing Zoë, Atticus, and Ichiko from the vehicle. Syous, a psi-stalker, which is a psychic predator that is a human mutation, readied his four genetically engineered psi-hounds, dogs bred and genetically manipulated to humanoid form and intelligence, to go after the one he had picked out as the supernatural powerhouse, whom he now saw was the scantily clad woman with the hammer.

Lieutenant Jarred gave the order for the psi-stalker and the hounds to go ahead once he saw the jeep go down. He then ordered an advance and cover with rifle fire. Three pulse rifles spat red beams of coherent light at the jeep and the others on the ground as they were scrambling for a defense.

Dexter settled in the back seat of the jeep, firing with aimed bursts at the oncoming cyborgs. He swore to himself and tried to think of a way to survive the onslaught of two 'borgs. His question was answered for him when he heard a battle cry from behind him. He barely had time to look to see Ichiko leap clear over the jeep from behind him and land in front of the larger cyborg and slamming her hammer fully into its chest, knocking it off its feet. At that same moment he heard Zoë chanting something and the ground underneath the psi-stalker and the hounds shimmer and the five soldiers stopped dead, trying to pull their feet out of the magical adhesive that was placed on the ground by the spell. Atticus was now firing his newly acquired pulse rifle into the three troopers that were bringing up the rear, sending coherent beams of light into their midst. One of them was hit twice in the chest and stumbled.

Dexter changed his clip and stood, firing into the armor of the cyborg that Ichiko had knocked down. The ion blasts tore holes in the armor and the heavy plating on the chest and stomach. He unloaded his clip into it and dropped the rifle and pulled out his pistols and aimed them at the cyborg. He barely ducked a wild shot that came his way from Jarred and leaped from the ruined jeep to tumble onto the ground, rolling up and firing at the same trio that Atticus was firing on.

Shannon slashed at Ichiko with a vibro sword and the girl blocked with her hammer, which showed no mark from the hard hit. The blow was then returned as a jab into the 'borg's chest, knocking it back a foot or so. The cyborg then kicked high, knocking the hammer to Ichiko's side and lashing out with a powerful punch. Ichiko grabbed the cyborg's fist, stopping it cold. She squeezed and twisted and the metallic hand crumbled under the intense pressure. The cyborg was shocked and looked on in disbelief, as her hand became scrap metal. Ichiko took this opportunity to swing her hammer into Shannon's head, knocking her over. Ichiko then finished her off by raising her hammer over her head and slamming it into the chest of the lightly armored cyborg, then making a powerful stomp on its head. The girl then turned to smash the rail gun of the first cyborg, who was bringing it up to fire at Dexter.

Zoë had just leveled two of the canine soldiers with a powerful fireball and was now aiming her magical arsenal at Syous, who had managed to free himself of the magical adhesive. Out of the clear sky, a stroke of lightning came down and incinerated the psi-stalker into ashes and charred his armor into slag.

Jared was watching his unit fall apart and couldn't figure out why. He was facing down a juicer and an orc, along with a girl with a hammer and a mage, and his unit, with superior training and firepower, was losing badly. He fired his rifle at the juicer as Corporal Draven went down from a burst of gunfire from the orc. A moment earlier, the juicer took down Private Lucia. He saw the last of his psi-hounds become vaporized by some unearthly magic. That girl with the hammer was finishing off the cyborgs, pounding them into the ground with what could only be a rune weapon. He was quickly running out of options. He thought quickly and dove behind a rock, forcing the juicer to advance on him and buy him some time. He took out a pair of grenades and pulled the pins on them. He then stood quickly and threw.

Ichiko watched as a hail of laser fire from Atticus and Dexter incinerated the last soldier. She then saw two small objects tumble into the jeep, right next to the cryogenic chamber. She ducked and screamed a warning.

"Fire in the hole!" She cried out as she hit the ground. The others did the same just as he grenades went off. Two loud WHOOMPS sounded as plasma engulfed the jeep. Zoë screamed as she saw the jeep become a burned out shell. Dexter stood and ran to the jeep just as the plasma dissipated. He and Ichiko got there to hear a mechanical female voice coming from the cryogenic chamber.

"Power core breach. Power system on backup." It mono toned. "Reserve power life expectancy is 13 hours, 15 minutes, 22 seconds. Would you like me to reanimate the subject in stasis now?" Dexter thought about it and just as Zoë and Atticus got to the chamber, he spoke.

"Yes, reanimate please." He answered.

"What the hell are you doing?" Zoë cried as she rushed over. "You have no idea how dangerous that thing is!"

"Dangerous or not, I am saving us the time and trouble of having to find another vehicle where there is one." He said. "I don't know if you noticed, but this jeep is trashed and that chamber must weigh a ton, at least. I am not about to carry it to Rilloran. Even if what's inside is an infirmed old man, it will be lighter than this. Besides, in case you haven't noticed, it was gonna open anyway."

The chamber hissed as it let out the stale air of its interior and began to warm the subject encapsulated inside. It opened the door to reveal its insides with a pop and an icy mist flowed out. Everyone looked inside and saw the mist clear. When they saw what was inside, Atticus was the first to speak up.

"Well, it may be old, but it doesn't look infirmed…" He said plainly. "…And she is definitely not a man…"

Inside was a young-looking woman who appeared to be in her late teens. She was very pretty with short black hair and fair features. Her eyes were closed and her face looked peaceful, although Dexter could see a look of deep pain in the expression. Her small-framed body was dressed in a black dress that was split high up each thigh with black leggings underneath, and at her feet was a small duffle bag. He leaned back and stood fully, still peering into the opened chamber.

"No…I guess not…"

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I hope you enjoyed the story. I do have this planned for a multi-part series. I love the world of Rifts Earth and have been playing the game for years, loving every minute of it. I decided to write a story with the setting to basically see how I could do with portraying it. Anyway, please read and review and expect part two up soon. Thanks.


	2. Chapter Two

DISCLAIMERS- I do not own Rifts or any related concept or character (the Coalition States, Naruni Enterprises, Juicers, or any other related comments or ideas). These are the solely the property of Kevin Seimeida and Palladium Books and are used without permission for a bit of writing fun and not for profit. I take it this covers everything and so on with the story.

Orange Juicer Part Two

Pursuit

By Gabriel Bell

"What do you mean there is a problem with the cargo?" Major Alexander said into his radio. He didn't quite understand what Ichiko was saying, due to the static from the surroundings, probably the ley line energy of the area he was in causing interference.

"...cargo wa...alive...ttle with CS troops...chamber opened and..." The rest of what she said was lost in static.

"Come in, over?" He said into his radio. Ichiko spoke again, this time with a little less static, but not much.

"Sorry Si...jeep got fried...on Dexter's field unit..." There was static as she paused. "Anyway, I said...cargo was a living being...cryo-chamber got...a battle with CS troops...it opened and this girl..." The rest was lost in static. He shook his head, thinking that a combination of a short-range transmitter and the ley lines was taking its toll on the signal. He had gotten enough though and thought quickly about a course of action. He then spoke again.

"Alright, proceed to Rilloran and I will hook up with you there." He said. "We have just got a request for a job from there anyway so were are heading there ourselves. How long do you think it will take to get there?"

"Um...According to...bout eight more da...if we hurry..." The static was picking up again as she replied. Alexander ordered the radio operator to boost the receiver and try to clean up the incoming signal. There was little use in the endeavor.

"Eight days?" He commented. "Alright, we'll be there a day or so ahead of you. Link up at Rilloran. Alexander out." He only got static as a reply, then dead air. He shook his head and looked at the operator, who also shook his head.

"What was with the static?" Alexander asked. "I thought you could handle a little ley line interference."

"I can, but this wasn't random interference." The young sergeant replied. "It was coming from the other end and I don't think it was the short range of the sending unit either. It's a clear day and we should have gotten a pretty clear signal. It was almost as if a barrier had been erected in the radio traffic."

"Jamming?" The Major asked. "But who? I have no intelligence of the CS making big operations in that particular area. It is too far north of their front lines."

"It could be the Tolkeenite units sir." The radio operator answered. "Even though magical jamming is not particularly effective at long range, they have been known to use tech jamming and communications fairly extensively."

"That's true, but if that is the case, then they are jamming because they suspect enemy operations in the area." Alexander said.

"True, jamming and communication protocol would suggest that." The radio operator replied. The Major thought for a moment then sat down in his command chair and gave the order to move the mercenary company out and make for Rilloran.

"Sir, we have a transmission from the brig truck." The sergeant said.

"Alright, give it to me..." He answered before speaking into the handset. "Alexander here. What is it?"

"Sir, I have just finished with the prisoners." It was Captain Nakatomi. "They didn't have much, although they did say some interesting things. They were taking supplies to a recon post camp run by a Colonel Shelton Montgomery. Also, it appears the PA pilots were from the base and make recon and patrol runs over the supply routes to the camp. They told me of some interesting rumors."

"Heh, do tell." He told the woman on the other end of the radio.

"Well, it is a well known fact that the Colonel was originally given this command after leading a smaller unit up from Lone Star." She said. "And that platoon was chasing something that possibly escaped or was stolen from there. It was only after he arrived here on the front was he given command of a company of troops and another company of skelebots."

"Interesting. That does clear up some things." Alexander said. "I will talk with you more about it tonight. Give the prisoners a sedative and some light body armor and send them with a recon unit to be dumped in the path of a CS patrol."

"Yes Sir." She said. "Nakatomi out."

"Alexander out." He replied and handed the handset back to the radio operator. He sighed as he sat back, thinking about how whatever Dexter was doing tied in with the CS Colonel. There were some obvious answers, but others were there that would take more clues to figure out.

"Dexter...sit down!" Atticus growled as he watched the juicer pace back and forth. Dexter looked at him and frowned but continued to pace.

Juicers could not sit still for long periods of time unless they used special drugs in their bio-harness to put them into a doped-out state, and Dexter was far from an exception to this rule. He fidgeted and kicked at the ground absently as he strode. Atticus pulled his gaze away from his nervous partner and to Zoe and the girl who had emerged from the cryo-chamber.

The mage was trying to keep the girl calm and explain to her what had happened. The girl in turn was trying to listen while checking her belongings, which seemed fairly simple. As he watched her more closely, something about her eyes seemed to glow blue, almost like the color of ley line energy. He thought that was strange, but in a world where giant robots and dragons mixed frequently, anything considered 'normal' was an oddity. He simply took note of this and turned his attention to Ichiko, who was finishing speaking to the Major. When she was finished, she approached him and Dexter.

"Well, he says go for Rilloran and that he will see us there. Something about a job." She informed them. "And something else...Your radio sucks Dex."

"What? No way!" He had stopped pacing and looked at her, then snatched the small backpack unit from her and looked it over.

"It does. I apparently couldn't get through to the Major real well and had to repeat everything I said." Ichiko told him. "Your radio sucks."

"It's not the radio." Zoe informed them as she walked up to them with the girl beside her. "If there is Coalition troops this far in, then Tolkeen troops are probably jamming communications and using their own means of talking with one another. Means that the CS refuses to use."

"Great, magic..." Atticus grumbled. "And why didn't you tell us you were a mage?"

"Would it have made any difference in your decision to take the job?" Zoe asked him.

"Yeah, I wouldn't have agreed to it." He answered.

"My point exactly." Zoe said, and then turned to the girl, then back to the group. "This was our cargo, Cenes Landford. She is very important to the efforts in Tolkeen to stem the latest CS offensive. Thankfully she is...lucid right now."

"CS offensive, you mean the 'scorched earth' bullshit right?" Dexter asked. "How so?"

"That I don't know, but I do know that the higher-ups, possibly King Creed himself, want to speak with her." Zoe answered before turning to Dominique. "Anyway, these are the people who are escorting us. Dexter, Atticus, and Ichiko." She motioned her hand to each in turn as she said their names. The girl only nodded.

There was a few moments of long silence before Dexter spoke up, pulling clips from a rifle dropped by one of the dead soldiers.

"We should salvage what we can and destroy the rest." He said. "Then we need to move on. This fight caused a lot of noise and who knows who may have been within earshot." Atticus nodded and Ichiko verbalized a brief reply and the three of them set to work salvaging E-clips, grenades and other supplies from the fallen men. They then destroyed weapons and remaining equipment. Ichiko found an entire arm and shoulder of one of the CS armors intact and decided to take it and the matching shoulder off another suit to make into a decorative, if not functional piece of protective gear.

The girl watched them work in silence, still trying to come to grips with being reawakened. How long had it been since she was put into deep freeze? Obviously the duration of one thousand years that she had heard her captors saying had not elapsed, but how much time had gone by? She watched Dexter and Atticus with extreme interest. She had been around since before the cataclysm and had seen juicer super-soldiers in action and knew what they looked like. Dexter's gear was standard for a juicer, although the equipment looked a little more advanced than what she remembered. Then there was Atticus, an orc. She remembered all orcs as cruel, cowardly bullies and not worthy of a single iota of trust, and if they were found among humans, then the humans were the same. But these people did not seem to be criminals, but more like soldiers or mercenaries. She judged mercenaries from what had been said by Zoe and the way they looked, all of their clothing and gear was functional, not uniform. She shook her head again and closed her eyes briefly before turning back to pay attention to what Zoe was saying.

"Anyway, we are going to a town called Rilloran." She said. "From there we will head to a location that I cannot disclose yet. Now that you are awake, I need to ask if you will speak with my commanders about what you know." Cenes simply nodded.

"Alright, that's it...Everyone ready?" Dexter asked. Ichiko finished punching small holes into the shoulders of the armor she had gotten to loop a spare chain she had through them and hang them on her shoulders and slipping her left arm into the arm of the armor. Atticus finished checking the jeep for something that may have survived the explosions and fighting, but there was nothing. Dexter looked a little impatient as he waited for them and when they were ready to set off, looked at Zoe and Cenes and jerked his head to indicate the direction he wished to head.

"You two ready to go?" He asked. Zoe nodded and the girl just stood there. Dexter then looked at Ichiko and Atticus. "What about you two?"

Ichiko shrugged in her newfound armor to test the fit then nodded. Atticus jump out of the ruined jeep and shouldered his rifle before heading off in the direction they had headed before he swerved to avoid the incoming rocket. Dexter motioned for Ichiko to take up behind the orc then looked at Zoe.

"You two go ahead of me. I am taking the back." He said plainly.

"Don't you trust us?" Zoe asked. Dexter shook his head.

"It's not that." He answered. "I just don't trust what else may be out here. I believe you know about juicers, we can avoid just about anything and even see it coming almost before it happens, even from behind."

Zoe looked ready to object, but Cenes simply began walking, quickly catching Ichiko. Zoe sighed and followed. Dexter took one last quick look around before heading after them. He had the feeling that something was watching them and that it was sizing each of them up for a coffin. He trotted to catch up to Zoe and Cenes then slowed, but would keep urging Zoe to walk a little faster.

A few hours later, the Colonel was sitting in his field office, looking over inventory documents of the supply convoy that was ambushed by Ryan's Ryders. He slammed the papers down and swore just as a young leiutenant came into the tent. The young woman saluted and the Colonel returned it just before speaking.

"What is it Mason?" He asked, his tone showing his displeasure at the situation.

"There is a report from the ranger that has been following the cargo." She answered. "He says that there was an ambush set up, but it was botched and Lieutenant Jarred's unit was wiped out."

"Fuck!" The Colonel spat. "How many were escorting?"

"We believe it was the juicer, an orc scout, their contact and another we believe to be from their unit, probably a D-bee." Mason explained. The Colonel shook his head.

"Major Alexander trains his troops too damn well." The elder officer said. "I swear he is more of a military genius than Larsen."

"Sir?" The young woman asked.

"Our supply convoy that was carrying replacement parts for our SAMs and ammunition was taken out." He explained. "There was little left to salvage and battle reports indicate that Major Alexander was not at full strength and still took less than twenty percent losses." He paused then looked at her. "I expect all this to be kept quiet, understand?"

"Yes Sir." Mason said, snapping to attention.

"Anyway, tell our ranger units to tail anything heading north from Domogo Trade Yard." He said. "I think Jarred was taken out by our targets, but you never know about decoys."

"Sir, there was something else in the report." Mason said. "Lieutenant Carson reported that there was a cryo-chamber in the jeep and that it had been opened as well as an additional set of tracks leading away from the site, even though he said they were very hard to see."

"I see...tell him to keep tailing them and tell the nearest heavy unit in the area to move to his direction to cut them off and capture them. I want them all alive. Understood?" He ordered.

"Yes Sir." Mason confirmed.

"Dismissed." The Colonel muttered and returned the salute given him before going back to reading his reports.

Lieutenant James Carson was sitting crouched, peering all around him. His specially painted dead boy armor blended well with his surroundings and with the addition of twigs and branches tucked into a net suit that covered it, the camouflage was nearly seamless. He held his C-12 laser rifle ready to fire at any threat that might rear its ugly head. For the last few months, the forces of the Coalition Army were getting pounded into the ground by the defenders from Tolkeen. Now, the commanders had sent out a wave of rangers and scouts in preparations for a new offensive, one that promised to halt the Tolkeen war machine in its tracks. Still, many thought that the war was a mistake, including Lieutenant Carson. Still, he would carry out his orders because he never knew where his actions may lead to lives being saved.

He sighed as he thought about the beginning of the war. Spirits among the CS troops had been high. They had technology, skelebots, power armor and robots on their side. More than that, they had the moral obligation to destroy the demons and magic-using psychopaths that made up the Kingdom of Tolkeen. The CS High Command had thought that it knew everything there was to know about magic and the capabilities of those who used it. That had proved dead wrong and led to the loss of thousands of young men and women loyal to humanity.

Carson remembered one incident that typified the utter lack of knowledge that has led the CS army to the brink of defeat in the Tolkeen War. He was leading a unit of assault troopers, six men in heavy armor and two cyborgs, by the nose through some of the densest territory in Southern Minnesota when they were ambushed by a trio of wilderness scouts that Carson had been aware of and had prepared the rest of the team for. They were easily dealt with, until their back up arrived.

Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet opened up and swallowed one of the cyborgs and two of the troopers in a deep chasm. Almost simultaneously, a massive, roughly humanoid shaped creature made of solid rock tore into the squad, smashing one trooper under its foot as it picked up the remaining cyborg and dashed him to the ground. Carson had quickly taken cover and from behind his tree that he was hiding behind he saw their assailant, a man wearing brown and green robes and wearing some sort of stone body armor. The Ranger lifted his rifle and took aim at the man's unprotected head and fired.

The earth mage's head exploded into a fine red mist and could no longer direct the rampage of the elemental and the unnatural beast moved on, allowing Carson to call in a squad of SAMAS to deal with it from the air. Even so, he was too late to save the squad. The chasm had closed, killing those inside, and the rest were strewn about the battlefield, more or less in one piece. The whole incident had taken less than a minute to play out, and now eight men were dead.

The incident happened early in the war and was covered up as quietly as possible, although Carson was commended for his attempt to save the squad at what High Command called 'great personal risk'. He scoffed at that. To him his actions were what should have been expected from a soldier. In his mind, he did nothing special, except get his team killed.

He hoped that this incident would not be replayed with the squad he would lead on the trail of the targets he had been tracking since they left the merc town. He recalled their name in his mind, Omega Squad. The best of the best. Their leader was a Captain by the name of Darien Earp. The Special Forces officer led a small squad, two of which were dog-boys. Not much was known about how they operated or what they had done, but there were rumors. The one rumor that he hoped was true was that they knew their way around the wilderness, so he wouldn't have to lead them around by the nose.

His train of thought was broken by a snap of a twig above him. He quickly ducked to the tree that he branches above belonged to and pointed his rifle upwards. There was a guttural chuckle as a figure clad in skeletal armor dropped from the tree. It was dressed in new style Coalition armor with Dog Boy lines to it. On both wrists were a trio of wicked looking vibro blades and on either hip was a new style CS laser pistol, he couldn't tell which version they were, but assumed they were probably the CP-30 pulse pistols.

Another canine figure in dog pack armor emerged from the brush, along with four individuals in CS Special Forces armor. He could faintly see the upside down horseshoe shape that was the insignia of Omega Squad on the shoulders of these troopers. He lowered his rifle and stood strait, having recovered his senses after the fright the dog boy had given him. One of the soldiers stepped forward. The weapon he held was an enormously long black rifle with curved, almost plastic looking lines. From the look of it, Naruni in design, but with modifications that made it look more functional, like shortening the barrel.

"At ease…sorry about Randy, but we had to make sure you were a friend." The SF soldier said. "I take it you're Carson?"

"Yes Sir…I take it you're Earp?" Carson replied.

"That I am." Darien replied. He then looked around before fixing his eyes on the ranger again. "We have orders to link up with you to chase down some mercs. What can you tell us about them?"

"Well, there's four of them. Three humans and a D-Bee with heavy tracks, probably orc. Two of the humans are female and one of the party is a mage and I think one of the humans is a super-strong D-Bee, judging by the condition of the 'borgs at the battle site. Orcs are strong, but not strong enough to tear a 'borg apart." The Lieutenant answered. "I'm not sure…but I think there's a fifth one too. Hard to tell though."

"What do you mean?" Earp asked.

"Well, the cryo chamber they were transporting got opened and even though I saw no other tracks, there was no sign of any of them carrying a load that would equate a body. So I assume whatever it was was levitating or flying or something, but I know it's out." Carson said.

"Then you lied to command." Earp replied. "You said there were faint tracks, but now you are saying there aren't any."

"I was being pressed for a short answer, so I gave them one that was as close to the truth as I could get." The ranger commented.

"I understand that…but how do you know that the chamber wasn't empty in the first place?" The SF officer asked.

"Because I checked." Carson answered. "When I couldn't find any tracks, I went back to check for signs of habitation in the chamber itself. I didn't find much; some indented cushioning at the foot and other such items. But three things I did find, two of which I brought with me…"

He then reached into his hip pack and pulled out a pair of small plastic bags. One was apparently empty and the other held a long strip of synthetic fabric that held a reddish, brown stain on it. He handed both of the to Captain Earp then began explaining.

"I am not sure, but I think that first one is a blood stain from some sort of gash, but it may not be from the current occupant." He said. "The other bag has three hairs in it. Short and apparently black in color. I spotted them easily against the white cushioning."

"But neither of these is conclusive proof. What is the other thing you mentioned?" Earp asked.

"Simple, sweat. I smelled sweat in the chamber, against the cloth." Carson answered.

"I thought cryo chambers were cold. People only sweat when it's hot." One of the other troopers commented.

"True, but if the person was wearing sweaty clothes or was sweaty when they went in, then they will leave that inside when they leave."

"Alright…let's travel under the assumption that there was someone or something in there and that they are up and walking around now." Earp said, now addressing all of the troops. "We should also assume that this…person, and whoever they are traveling with are dangerous. From reports they took out an entire squad. In case of contact, I want a report of the situation before interaction is initiated. If you can't reach me, then fade. We are to use maximum stealth protocols on this mission, plus we have orders to bring them in alive. Is all of this understood?"

A chorus of affirmative responses echoed from the group and from Carson. Earp then gave the order to head out. As they began their trek north, with Carson leading and following the trail of their quarry, the ranger began to think about just how important whatever was in that cryo chamber was. High Command wanted it alive and wanted it badly, or else they would not have sent their best unit to the job. He shook his head and began to concentrate on the task at hand, tracking the one he found easiest to see the trail of, from the looks of it, a woman who knew nothing of how to move in the wilds.

Ichiko was hauled to her feet yet again after stumbling, and this time falling on her face. She may have been coordinated in battle, but when trying to pick her way through woods, she was less than graceful, but not a total klutz. Cenes made sure she was stable on her feet before simply moving on. Ichiko noted that the girl seemed quite strong despite only apparently weighing 40 kilograms. With her recent trip, it left only Zoe who had not helped her up, and Dexter had helped her up twice.

"Thanks…" She grumbled as Cenes moved off without saying a word. As she dusted herself off, she felt something tap her on the shoulder. She turned to see Dexter.

"Go…go on…time to keep walking…" He said in a voice better reserved for a child and making shooing motions with his hands. Ichiko rolled her eyes, gave him the finger, then turned and kept walking.

"Bite me." She retorted. Dexter just smiled and kept walking.

Zoe was looking quite haggard, not being used to traveling by foot. He huffed and breathed heavily as she made her way through the woods behind Atticus, trying her best to keep up. The orc turned and saw her, then stopped and looked around.

"This is a good place to rest." He said. "Let's stop to eat…"

"Good idea." Dexter said, stopping and taking a look around the small clearing they had found. It had some sections of half rotted logs in it, showing that a tree or two had fallen here some time ago. The roots at the end of a couple of the sections seemed to indicate natural causes. Grass blanketed the area, along with a few flowers. It looked like a very peaceful place.

As the others settled themselves in for a rest, Dexter sat on a log and drank from his canteen. When he pulled the canteen away from his mouth, he saw Cenes doing something he considered unusual. She was kneeling beside a small flower, her back to him. At first it would seem she was looking at the small cluster of petals, but she then slumped over and cried out, her hands going to her head. He was immediately up and at her side, pushing her over to lie on her back and positioning her head so she could breathe easier. He had paramedic training, unusual for a juicer, but it allowed him to immediately begin assessing the situation

"Atticus! Get over here!" He called out. Instantly, Atticus and Zoe were over to them. Dexter pressed his head to her chest, listening for a heartbeat. He heard her quietly gasping for breath and her heart beating irregularly. This was serious. He looked up at Zoe.

"Get some water, now." He said and Zoe headed off. He then turned to Atticus. "Go get the med kit…she needs rhythmopine."

Atticus ran over to Dexter's backpack and pulled out the medical kit and brought it over to him as Dexter breathed into Cenes' mouth. She was losing the ability to breathe on her own as she held her head, her face contorted in either effort or pain. Atticus pulled a long syringe out of the medical pack and rolled up the girl's sleeve. He quickly found a vein and stuck the needle in. As soon as the drug reached the heart and spinal cord, it began doing its job, which was to stabilize the heartbeat of the person it was administered to. Atticus tossed the syringe aside as Dexter pulled another syringe out and administered a shot of sedative to her system and slowly her face and arms relaxed. He then listened at her chest again. Her heart rate was keeping an even rhythm again, but was slowing. He continued to listen, trying to make sure that it did not drop too far, as rhythmopine combined with sedatives had a tendency to do to heartbeats on occasion. It slowed to a pace that would be consistent with sleeping and he pulled up, relaxing.

He reached into the medical pack and pulled out a small device, about the size of a pack of cigarettes, and attached a pair of cords to it. The cords had small, flat pads on the other end of them. He placed one on her temple and thenslid the other down the front of her dress to attach it over her heart. He then clipped the bio-monitor onto her belt and turned it on. Atticus then pulled a collapsible stretcher off of his back and unfolded the ultra light metal and cloth carrying cot and laid it out beside her. He and Dexter then gently lifted her and set her down on it. Dexter took his bedroll and placed it under her head while Atticus used a blanket to cover her with.

Ichiko and Zoe made it back, each with full canteens. They looked at her and instantly grew relieved. The fact that they had her covered up and her face was still exposed meant they had managed to save her for now.

"This is going to cause a delay." Atticus commented dryly.

"Don't remind me." Dexter said. "Everything about this is messed up. One of us is going to lose a leg over this job."

"Don't say things like that Dex." Ichiko aid as she knelt beside the resting girl and began to slowly tip water into her mouth. "You never know when it might come true."

"What are you worried about?" Dexter retorted. "You'll just grow it back if you lose one."

"So what are we going to do about her?" Zoe asked, changing the subject.

"Well, I guess we just wait…Ichiko, see if you can raise the Major." Dexter answered. "He'll want to know about this little complication."

"So our spies have reported the whole of Ryan's Ryders moving north to Rilloran…" Colonel Montgomery commented at the latest report. "I wonder why…"

"They are mercenaries Sir." A young officer pointed out. "They may just be going to where there's need of them."

"But wouldn't an outfit like the Ryders be better suited to remain in the south to repel our attacks?" The Colonel replied. "Especially since we have started the scorched earth campaign. They would be wise to keep large, organized forces where they are in better positions to minimize damage. I think that they have been specifically called somewhere. Either to set up a defense around a town or for some other reason…Tell me, what towns are in their path?"

"Let's see…" The officer said, thinking. After a moment, she continued. "There are none…just a couple of empty villages."

"Empty villages?" The Colonel queried.

"Yes sir. Apparently word of our recent push in the east has reached the commoners here in the west of the war zone." The Lieutenant replied. "So many villages have emptied. I thought I gave that report to you myself."

"Yes, yes you did." The Colonel replied, standing. "It had slipped my mind until now. Any idea of where these refugees are heading?"

"Well, from what I hear from the scouts, a general northward direction was indicated…" She started to say something else, but was cut off.

"That's it!" Shelton exclaimed. "The have been hired to guard refugees…Which means that there is some sort of escape convoy planned…Send a communiqué to Central Command. Tell them we have a probable refugee convoy trying to escape the kill zones."

"Yes Sir." The officer replied. "I take it I am to request orders?"

"Yes, now go…we cannot waist time…" The Colonel replied.

They left the tent together, the Colonel giving orders to prepare to move the entire camp and the Lieutenant went off to contact the Central Command camp.

She saw Dexter running toward an explosion-gutted tank, yelling something at her as she threw a bolt of magic through the cockpit of a robot vehicle that she had cut the legs from under. She didn't hear what he said. Four robot vehicles still remained out of the six that were trying to attack the undefended flank of the unarmed convoy. Something in her mind told her that it was refugees, but she couldn't be sure. Her blood was boiling with battle lust as she raised an arm to sear the pilots of the down robot with magically energized plasma. The screams of the dying men inside only fueled her lust more. She leaped up onto the wrecked hulk to try and jump onto the leg of a passing assault mech when she was thrown back by her target mech being rocked by thunderous explosions. She looked up to see the cored robot falling toward her and she scrambled away.

There was now three left. She looked up at a bird-legged robot, like the first one she had downed, and saw down the barrels of its guns, which were pointed at her. She jumped as it fired and raised her hands. She felt her body burning as her magic took hold and made her form white-hot and she drove right through the armored body of the robot vehicle. She landed and rolled and looked around. Somehow all six robots were on the ground even though she had only downed two and Dexter one. She felt a slash being cut deep across her back and turned to see a skeletbot slashing at her again with its vibro blades. She cut off its head with a magically energized hand. Her mind was racing now. Everything was either a target or something to be left alone. If it moved, it was a target, if not, it was left alone. She then continued to search for more targets and as she searched, a trio of lasers cut the ground around her feet, missing the CS trooper they were aiming for by inches. She turned to the source and saw a lone gunner on one of the convoy vehicles firing on the soldier.

Then something in her mind snapped. She felt herself recessing into the back of her consciousness as the other took hold. Her mind and soul cried out to stop, but she knew this other wouldn't. It had slaughtered men women and children without remorse or afterthought, and it had let her watch all of it. She ran past the soldier, cutting him down as she focused on her target, the gunner.

The gunner continued firing, seeing her as a threat. Somehow all his shots missed. She heard someone screaming at her frantically over her headset. It sounded vaguely like Dexter, but she didn't couldn't be sure. All that mattered was this new target. She was halfway there when she saw a red light fill her vision before everything went dark.

Cenes sat bolt upright on her cot, sweating profusely. Even as she tried to recall the nightmare, it faded from her mind. She felt a hand on her right shoulder and lashed out her arm to strike it, still in a battle mindset. She then turned to see Dexter rubbing his armor where she had hit him. She then looked down as he got up and went over to her.

"Hey, sorry…You looked like you were having a nightmare." He said. "You really should rest, ok?"

Cenes looked at him and blinked, then nodded and laid down tiredly. Her heart trouble and the nightmare had taken its toll and she needed to rest, but not sleep. She had slept very little since the last time she saw her husband. She sighed and looked at Dexter as he smiled and patted her shoulder lightly and stood up to go talk to Zoe. She didn't hear the conversation, but kept focusing on Dexter. Just looking at him brought back many memories of Marcus. They looked so much alike, the same height and build, although Dexter had more muscles from his augmentation. They also almost had the same face, although Marcus' was a little narrower than Dexter's and his nose was a little smaller. They had the same shine in their eyes and when Cenes remembered that Dexter was a juicer, doomed to die from the chemicals that gave him his inhuman strength and speed. She couldn't stand to see those eyes that were so full of life fading and burning out as those drugs took their deadly toll on his body.

For some reason she felt like she could trust him. She didn't like him, the man was an ass, but she could trust him. Again much like her husband. She almost hated Marcus when they first met, but she soon found herself trusting and eventually marrying him and having two children with him. She remembered those happy times her family spent together and closed her eyes. She covered her face with her sleeve as a tear ran silently down the side of her face, especially when she remembered how he died, his blood on her hands...

Carson was stooped down next to the bank of a wide, shallow creek with Ralph, who had his canine nose pressed to the ground and sniffing. Ralph's brother, Randy, was on the other side of the creek trying to sniff a trail, but was currently coming up empty. Earp walked up to Carson and the ranger stood to face his superior.

"Sir, the did stop here and milled around for a short time. Probably to rest." He said. "I am also sure they entered the creek. There are slip marks on the stones from heavy boots." The Special Forces officer nodded and looked across the creek at the dog boy there, who had now stood up and was scratching his head.

"Randy, find anything?" He asked over the proximity channel of the radio. Randy looked over at him and shook his head in reply.

"Sir, they probably walked along the stream one way or the other to try and throw off tracking." Carson commented. "Probably downstream, less effort to move against the water and it will create less of a disturbance on the stones in the bed."

"I was thinking the same thing…" Earp said. "Ralph, go across the river and go right, sniff out the trail that way. Randy, go left. Carson, I want you to try and see if you can find tracks that go downstream. Everyone else keep an eye out for trouble…and take this opportunity to fill your canteens."

Carson walked to the center of the creek and began to peer into the water. It moved swiftly and swirled about his ankles, making the foot deep water a little more difficult to peer through. He slung his rifle and got down on his hands and knees and stuck his faceplate into the water to get a clearer view of the creek bed. The environmental seals of his armor immediately kicked in to keep the water out and he looked around and began to slowly crawl on his hands and knees, searching for signs of passage.

"Carson, you think this is the group from Domogo?" Earp asked absently.

"Probably sir…the more I track them, the more I am convinced of that." The Lieutenant answered as he searched. "From reports, a juicer, orc, mage, and some sort of crazy girl that wears no armor and carries a big hammer. Probably the one that tore apart those 'borgs. Tough opponents, think we can handle them?"

"We can, and we will. We just need to find them." Earp replied before changing the subject. "Carson, what do you think of D-Bees, magic and all that?"

"Sir?" Carson queried.

"What do you think of them?" Earp asked again. "You don't have to answer. I just want to know what you think of them."

"Well…that's hard to say." The ranger answered as he sat up in the water. "I don't think mages are inherently evil, but misguided and shouldn't be doing what they are doing. There are evil ones of course, but not all of them. As for D-Bees…they too are not inherently evil. Still, Earth is for humans and they do not belong here. As for all those supernatural creatures, dragons and such…they do need to be exterminated."

"What would your solution be for D-Bees and mages?" The SF leader asked.

"Well…driving D-Bees and their supporters from Earth would suffice." Carson answered. "I don't think killing them all is necessary. As for mages, that's a little more difficult, but I would say let them find a world of their own. I heard an interesting story from an old D-Bee who said that there was an entire galactic cluster filled with all sorts of creatures and humanoids and interstellar governments. One of the governments was a magic one…let the mages go there."

Earp took in his subordinate's answer carefully and considered it. He then stood up from filling his two canteens and looked around. Everyone was resting, but still alert. He looked back at Carson, who had resumed his search.

"What has formed these opinions in you?" He asked. "You know I could have you hauled back to re-education for your views." Before Carson could answer, Randy reported a find.

"Sir, got some potent supernatural here…" He said. "Fifty meters downstream from your position. It's definitely them."

"Alright…on our way. Everyone form up. Head fifty downstream and cross." He said. As everyone moved to travel to the indicated place, he looked at Carson, who was standing up. "Looks like you were right."

"I hope so…Whatever these Tolkeenites want with this cargo, it would prove detrimental to our efforts." He answered as he began walking. "Oh, and Sir…I'll tell you later…probably when we camp."

"Right…at camp." Earp said as he began walking.

Dexter had talked things over with Zoe, Ichiko and Atticus and they had decided to make camp. Cenes did not have an objection to this, still feeling a little winded from her ordeal earlier that day. The girl's magic hadn't quite gotten back up to full strength yet. Atticus was currently setting up a fire while Ichiko and Zoe were setting up the small pup tents. It was threatening to rain that night and everyone wanted to stay dry. Cenes shuddered at the thought of the rain. There were some bad memories of it, especially the night of the ritual with Marcus. She never liked it and probably never would. She hesitated to even eat or drink. Her magic took care of her body's needs, so she didn't really need food, water, sleep or even air, although occasionally she took doses of food, drink and sleep and breathed out of habit.

As she watched from her place away from the camp, she saw the camp come up and the sky grow dark, spawning stars little groups at a time before the clouds seemed to swallow them up. Those clouds were coming fast. It was definately going to rain. She simply decided to look up at the stars and watch them. She sighed as she glanced back at camp, noting that they were eating and talking, then looked up at the stars again.

At the campsite, Dexter was chewing a thick piece of jerky and trying to recount an incident between him, Atticus, and a pair of large men who seemed to think they were the best at everything in the town he and the orc were visiting.

"…So after the third time of beating Bruce at arm-wrestling, Atticus simply stood up and patted him on the shoulder and said 'go work out some more'." He said chuckling. "The look on his face was classic. Then when his buddy, Al, challenged me to a match, I said no. When he asked why, I said I didn't want to break his arm. He then tried punching me…" He laughed a little before continuing. "…Man…normally those muscle bound oafs would move in slow motion to me on a good day…but when they're drunk? Oh man…I really did feel sorry for how pathetic he looked. I decided to take it easy on him and just let him fall over so many times that he finally didn't bother to get up. Atticus on the other hand had to break Bruce's nose and jaw before that ass gave up." He began chuckling again.

"Didn't I hear something about jail time for that too?" Ichiko commented.

"Yeah…that dumb-ass law man thought we were drunk too and had us sleep it off…" Dexter replied a little more soberly. "He also saw fit to charge us a couple thou for the repairs to Bruce's face…I guess he didn't much like orcs or juicers."

"No…he probably just didn't like you." Ichiko said with a smirk on her face.

"Oh, so you're saying I got Atticus into trouble?" Dexter asked.

"Yup…because you do." The orc answered. "Why do you think I stay away from towns? You can't get into trouble with no one around…"

"Thanks…thanks a lot…" Dexter grumbled.

"This is amusing and all, but it is getting late." Zoe replied, standing up. "So who was first watch?"

"That would be me…" Ichiko said in a resigned tone as she stood up. "I expect to be relieved on time Dexter."

"Right…right…" the juicer said as he stood and stretched. "Well, I am going to go zone out for a while. Goodnight everyone."

Everyone said their goodnights and headed for either their tents or where they chose to spend the night, which for Dexter, was up in a tree where he could safely have his drug harness pump sedatives into him so his body could rest. He made regular use of these drugs. He had heard somewhere that regular use of these drugs helped a juicer live a little longer than those that rarely used them. Ichiko stood at the small fire and sighed as she paced around it, then felt a drop on her skin. More drops followed and she looked up at the sky, which was now half covered in the storm clouds that had been moving in from the north.

"Fucking great…" She growled under her breath as the sky opened up on her.

"Alright Carson, your watch is over." Earp said as he walked over to the cloaked soldier sitting under a tree to be sheltered from the rain. "On one condition, that you tell me why you don't think everything non-earthly should be exterminated."

"Right…I did promise that, didn't I?" the ranger answered. "Well, cop a squat and I will tell you…"

Earp nodded and sat against the tree with the Lieutenant and waited for him to begin, tucking his rifle under his camouflage poncho to keep it from getting wet. Even though most energy weapons, especially the Naruni weapon he carried, were supposed to be water proof, he had a bad experience with a rifle that had bad seals. He waited for Carson to begin.

"Well…I used to be real hard on D-Bees and stuff before the war and a little after it started too." He began. "About a month after the start of the war, I was running scout for a commando group and got separated. I heard distress calls on my radio and I rushed back to see what was going on. What I saw there…God…There was twelve men and women in the commando group, but only four were alive…and one of them was going to die soon. They were all torn apart…by some demonic thing that was tearing open a suit of enhanced armor like a soda can. I could hear the woman inside screaming in pain and fear. After it had driven its sword like claws through her back, it looked around. This thing looked at another trooper, who was trying to crawl away, missing a leg. It pounced on him and began tossing him around like a cat with a mouse.

"I had frozen in fear and when I came to my senses, I saw the monster ripping an arm off the man, who was still screaming. I dropped to a knee and aimed my rifle at his head to save him being ripped apart and eaten alive. That was when I noticed movement to my left and when I looked, I saw a human in red and black robes riding another of these creatures. Before I could react, it leaped on me and was tearing my armor apart with its teeth. I remembered thinking the last thing I would see was its saber teeth closing around my helmet.

"I then heard the sounds of combat and the hellish scream of one of the creatures dying. The one on me leaped off and I could hear more fighting. I didn't know how long it lasted, but the next thing I was aware of was two big, black eyes looking into my faceplate, then over my armor, trying to see if I was alive. While it was checking me out, I saw another D-Bee, a dwarf, holding a pair of psi-axes. Only one thing I know can produce two psi-weapons, and that's a Cyber-Knight. I had been saved by Cyber-Knights.

"I blacked out and when I came to, I saw the dwarf's red-bearded face looking into my own. I had the sensation of floating, but I was probably being carried. I became vaguely aware of being taken into some sort of shanty house or hut, where an old orc woman wearing all kinds of charms and fetishes began treating my wounds. She healed me with magic. I don't know if you've ever been healed with magic before, but it is different than psychic healing. You feel your flesh closing and knitting and al sorts of weird stuff when a psychic heals you, but the only thing you feel with magic is the pain just goes away and you feel whole again. Anyway, she insisted that I rest, despite repeated efforts to try and find out how many others had survived.

"I think it was about a week later, when I started to become fully coherent, that one of my rescuers, the dwarf, came in to see me. He sat down and told me his name, which was Fafnir, and asked mine. I asked if I was a prisoner and he took it as if he expected the question and shook his head. I told him my name and he nodded. He was friendly, and considerate, always asking if I was hungry or thirsty and all that. Anyway, I asked him why he had rescued me. He said that it was his duty, and the duty of all good creatures to either prevent or avenge a slaughter. Apparently from what he said, had that commando group been a group of 'borgs, it would have made no difference against those creatures. I also learned from him that two others had survived the attack, but died from injuries. They had also arranged for the bodies to find their way back into CS hands so that their families could bury them.

"Fafnir showed me around the small village he and his companions protected. He gave me a line that those people, both human and D-Bee, were just trying to survive and didn't want any part of the war. I looked around for the additional week I was there to both rest and so they could procure a suit of armor for me so I wouldn't be slaughtered by the first thing I came across. What I saw was no different than anywhere in Chi-town, families and individuals interacting with each other, being social, telling jokes and doing everything humans do. The dwarf never told anyone I was a CS trooper. He said that these people had a fear of soldiers of all kinds, both Tolkeen and CS and probably would have driven me out of town. I kept to myself, and talking with Fafnir, but I still saw all those D-Bees acting very human…and it was natural…not a show.

"Anyway, I was let go, with all of my equipment and a suit of Urban Warrior armor for defense. Fafnir himself escorted me to a CS patrol lane. We talked some more, asked about each other's families and that's when he dropped two bombshells on me. The first was he said his family was killed by CS troopers in a raid on the village he was living as a child. To hear him tell it, his house was cut apart by a careless laser blast. He wasn't sure how he survived or who fired the shot, but that shot was a result of the raid, so he gave the logic that the CS was in a way responsible, but he held no hatred towards the soldiers. I guess other than a couple of stray shots; he had heard that the soldiers had kept to firing on their targets, which was a group of armed bandits.

"The second bombshell was a shocker, even more than the first. He said that the reason he and his companions were in the area on the day of the attack was that he had heard that a CS squad was coming to destroy the town. He also said that he was certain the CS soldiers were coming for him and his Cyber-Knight comrades, so sought to protect the town by having the battle away from town.

"When he left, it hit me. The soldiers I was leading was going to kill women and children. It was sickening. I wanted to puke. Then the other realization hit me…even though we were coming to kill them, and dozens of non-combatants, they chose to try and save two others and me rather than let us be killed by monsters.

"You see…even though a lot of D-Bees and mages may be evil or misguided…there are those who are noble. If you want to send me back to re-education for thinking that, then go ahead. I know in my heart that there are good and bad aliens out there, just like there are good and bad humans."

Earp listened intently, taking in Carson's story with interest. He wondered how this young lieutenant had slipped through re-education in the first place, but let it go. The Coalition had so many casualties in those first months of the war that a simple case of a soldier going missing and then returning would have gotten that soldier shipped back to the front lines. He then patted Carson on the shoulder and spoke.

"Do you know how many laws you are breaking just from telling me that?" He asked. Carson nodded. "Well, don't worry, I am not going to re-educate you. I have seen enough of your performance to know that you will stick with the side of humanity in a pinch. Besides, certain…sympathies help a ranger do his job better, right?"

"Yeah, I guess…" the ranger conceded. "I am just real tired all of a sudden. I get that way when I think about that."

"Go get some sleep then…and wake up Danforth. It's his turn for watch too." Earp said.

"Yes Sir…" Carson said as he stood and stretched. "Good night sir."

"Good night."

The powerful laser blast knocked the last SAMAS out of the air and the remnants tumbled to the ground in front of the convoy of mercenaries. The turret that fired the blast scanned for more targets as the convoy began to move again. From the command truck, Major Alexander watched the brief battle with a CS patrol, thinking about how they had come.

"Sir, are you alright?" Captain Nakatomi asked, sounding a little worried.

"Something bothers me about those Sams…" He answered. "They came on us a little too directly to be a standard patrol, but a little too low for a recon run and too high for attack. What were they doing?"

"I don't know sir, but we shouldn't bother with them anymore." Naomi said, leaning over the back of the Major's chair and pressing the side of her head against his. "They are dead and we are moving again. Although it is curious…"

"Curious hell…It could be part of some set of orders or something…" Ryan said. "I'll worry about it more when we see more of the same."

"You seem so certain Ryan-chan…" She said softly as her hands went to his shoulders. Their relationship was well known throughout the company, but they still took care in letting their subordinates see it. Naomi felt it was time to cut loose just a little. Her lover seemed so tense and worried.

"I don't know…I just have a bad feeling about this job in Rilloran…that's all." He said quietly so the radio operators wouldn't hear him.

"I keep telling you that you have a gift…" She answered into his ear. He sat up and turned to look at her.

"I am not psychic…" He said curtly.

"Is it your prejudices saying that or the 'experts' in the Imperium?" Nakatomi asked.

"Never mind…I don't want to have this conversation now." He said. "It's best left for private." He then sat back and changed the subject, calling to one of the radio operators.

"Corporal, have you cleaned up that transmission any?" He asked.

"Um, I would like to clean it up more, but I think it is understandable now." The young man replied.

"Let's hear it."

"Yes Sir."

They waited for a few moments before the room was filled with the sound of static, deafeningly loud static, everyone winced as the Corporal blurted an apology and turned the volume down. Now the sound was at a more manageable level for everyone's ears. Soon a voice came over the speakers.

"I don't know if you can receive this but…ill transmitting…ley line activity around…Anyway, we have a small prob…cargo has heart trouble…will delay our…at Rilloran…Harou out…"

"Is that the best you can do?" The Major asked.

"No sir…like I said, I would like to clean it up more." The communications officer said.

"Alright, please try." Alexander replied then turned to Naomi. "Let's go back to our cabin and discuss strategy some more. I would like to know your thoughts on this." Nakatomi nodded and they both left for the rear of the command vehicle, which was their personal quarters while in the field.

Dexter looked around at everyone as camp was disassembled and nodded. He did not appear to be needed. Zoe and Ichiko were taking down the tents and Atticus was cleaning up traces of their presence there, covering the fire and putting it out, as well as clearing the ground of refuse that any of them might have left. Dexter knew he and Atticus didn't leave anything, and something struck him that Cenes wouldn't leave anything, but he knew Ichiko did tend to be careless at times and he didn't know about Zoe.

He looked around to see if he could spot Cenes. He noticed her leaning against a tree, holding her forhead a bit. He walked over to her, smiling slightly, just enough to try and help cheer her up. When he got to her, he put a hand gently on her shoulder and patted softly. When she looked up at him, he looked into her eyes.

"Hey, you ok?" He asked. The girl looked up at him and nodded, rubbing her temples and standing. Dexter patted her on the back and nodded his head toward the others.

"Come on…Let's get going." He said as he began walking. Dominique nodded and followed.

Before long they had all packed up and cleaned the camp. Atticus was taking point to watch for signs of possible danger from the front and Ichiko was right behind him. Zoe took the middle of the line with Cenes walking either beside or behind her. Dexter brought up the rear as they headed out.

As they left, they began to hear shouting and a roar behind them. A stray laser blast tore through a series of trees over their heads, a stray shot. All of them ducked as a fifty-foot length of tree cashed down among them, separating Dexter and Cenes from the rest. The girl crawled quickly under the branch toward the others. Dexter was turned around with rifle ready to see if they were being attacked. The sounds of combat were distant, maybe 100 meters away, much too far for them to be the targets. He turned back to the group and shouted.

"Ichiko, come with me." He ordered. "Atti, take Zoe and Cenes away from here. They need to get to Rilloran. I want to check out what's going on there and maybe try and take it out if we can, just in case it decides to track on us. Besides, it may be a CS patrol after us that encountered something nasty. Either way, they will be on our trail if we don't do something about it."

Everyone nodded and Ichiko used her hammer to pole-vault over the fallen pine and next to the juicer. Atticus led the others off into the woods. Dexter then began moving towards the battle, with Ichiko in tow. He kept low to the ground, crouch-running the entire way. They moved slower when they started seeing stray laser and plasma fire coming their way. From the sound of it, there was a vicious battle going on.

Dexter gave a sign for Ichiko to hold position and then brought up the scope of his rifle to have a look at the battle in progress while Ichiko kept her head up to watch for anything that may try to attack them.

Carson barely ducked as the limp form of one of the troopers he had been traveling with flew over him and hit the tree behind him. He brought up his laser rifle and fired a trio of shots into the vaguely humanoid creature that had swatted the trooper, hitting it in the chest. The thing was big, with a demonic head that sported a pair of vaguely deer-like antlers and a pair of mouthed tentacles from the side of its head. The ends of its arms ended in clawed hands that raked another soldier before she could raise her rifle to fire.

Earp had ordered an early departure that morning and they set out before sunrise to continue tracking. Signs were easy to see through the dense foliage of the forest floor. They made quick progress and Carson made the estimation that they were almost right on top of them. That is when the creatures hit.

There were three of them, four meters tall and slashing with claws and horns. Two troopers were taken completely by surprise and gutted in the first seconds. The two dog boys were next to respond, both by pouncing on one and slashing with vibro blades and firing with pulse pistols. Earp then ordered concentrated fire on another, which left the third to take out two more troops before its buddy was downed. The dog boys finished theirs off quickly and moved to the one that was not being fired on so it too would be occupied. They were tossed aside and Carson fired shot after shot into its chest as it approached. He was dimly aware of two more coming from the woods.

The one he was firing on was hurt, one of its arms dangling useless at its side, but the other one reached for his head. Just as those clawed fingers wrapped around his helmet, he felt them loosen and saw the monster stagger back. He saw a flash of red light coming from the woods behind him and strike the creature in the back of the head. He took the opportunity to find another position to fire from as he saw a woman wielding a large hammer plow the head of her weapon into the chest of one of the new creatures. It tumbled backwards onto its haunches and she performed a golf-style swing at its head, which connected with its lower jaw. He heard the snap of massive vertebrae cracking as the creature fell limp. Earp ordered the remaining troops to fire on the remaining creature and it was soon down.

As everyone moved to gather the casualties to see who was wounded and who had died, Carson stood and saw a man with a large, orange Mohawk and the blonde haired woman retreat from view through the bushes. He shook his head and turned to see one of the dog boys lying limply, the bio monitor sending a signal to the readout in Carson's helmet that the mutant was still alive, but unconscious.

"Sir…I think two of the targets just helped us out…" He said.

"I know…but we have wounded." Earp answered. "We won't be able to peruse them. We'll take care of our people and try to take them at Rilloran."

"Yes Sir…" He said before turning his gaze back to the dog boy soldier. "This one's alive…how's everyone else?"

"Omega, sound off…" Earp ordered. Two did not report. One was Ralph, the unconscious dog boy and the other was Sergeant Allenby, she was torn apart by one of the creatures. The remaining soldiers of Omega Force gathered its wounded and began to treat them as best they could. Luckily, there were only broken bones and minor cuts to worry about.

Carson sat down on a rock and sighed heavily, shaking his head. He had led a force under his charge into another trap. This was the third time. At least they weren't wiped out by what had ambushed them. He closed his eyes and ran his fingers through the dark green tassel on his helmet that marked him as a ranger. He asked himself why hadn't they pulled him off escort duty yet and hoped that they would after this. He was slowly becoming convinced that he was inept as a Coalition Ranger.

Meanwhile, They were left treating their wounded while their target was getting away. He felt he had failed his mission. They might still get the targets, but it would be because of Earp, not him. He shook his head and sighed again, tugging a bit on the tassel. He then stood and walked over to Earp, his inner soldier telling him to not become despondent and to concentrate on the job at hand.

"Sir, request permission to track the targets independently." He asked. "I may be able to keep up and can give obvious signs for you to follow."

"Good idea. Permission granted." Earp replied. "Be careful, alright?"

Carson nodded and headed off to track Dexter and the rest of the party, hoping like hell he didn't screw it up this time.

To be continued…


End file.
